Washington’s now been shut out five times in 16 games this month, with last night’s 3-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles leaving them 6-10 in June. Davey Martinez talked before the second of three with the O’s in D.C. about all the injuries the Nats have dealt with this season, but he wasn’t making any excuses.
He did, however, acknowledge that the team hasn’t been at full strength.
“There’s 25 guys daily that are on the roster, use them the best you can,” Martinez said, “put them in positions that they’re going to succeed, and we’ll go from there.”
“I just worry about the day ahead and try to win as many games as possible,” he added.
But the shutout losses and rough nights for the Nationals’ offense are piling up. Martinez said it’s the process he’s focused on right now.
“For me, it’s not really about the hits,” he said after last night’s loss, “... it’s the at bats.
“We lined out quite a few times today, and I’m not too concerned about — I mean, these guys, we’ve got some pretty good hitters. [Daniel] Murphy is just coming back. He lined out today. Adam Eaton is playing really well. Michael [Taylor] is doing well. So, we just got to keep pushing and keep going and the runs will come.
“I know they’ll come and when they do come, they’ll come in bunches.”
In the ninth inning of last night’s game, trailing 3-0, the Nationals loaded the bases on back-to-back singles by Taylor and Trea Turner and a Brian Goodwin walk, but a called third strike on Mark Reynolds ended the threat.
“We hit some balls hard today and like I said before, we didn’t quit,” Martinez said. “We had bases loaded with a chance to win the game. We’ve just got to keep going.”
They’ve also got to stop giving up home runs like the two-run blast Mark Trumbo hit off of Gio Gonzalez that provided all the offense the Orioles needed for the win.
Nationals’ starters have allowed 52 home runs total after last night, the sixth-most in the NL, which Martinez said has to change.
Seven of the Orioles’ ten runs in the series scored on home runs.
“I think we’re giving up way too many homers, I really do,” he said. “We’ve got to figure out a way how to keep the ball in the ballpark, and limit the damage.”
Or start hitting more than the other teams.